As you might have heard by now, Election Day is Tuesday. (Haven’t voted yet? There’s still time. Mark your ballot and drop it into one of the ballot boxes scattered around the county, but make sure you do that by 8 p.m. Tuesday. You can mail your ballot, of course, but at this point, election officials prefer that you use a drop-off box if possible. If you do mail your ballot, be sure it’s postmarked by 8 p.m. Tuesday.)

Because the weekly edition of the East Oregonian that you will receive on Wednesday is printed on Tuesday afternoon — hours before the first election results are released — it won’t include any of those results. This is one of the frustrating things about working for a weekly newspaper that is printed on Tuesday afternoon.

But you won’t have to wait a week to read about the election results, thanks to the Observer’s website, lagrandeobserver.com. 

We’ll be working through the night on Tuesday to update all the races on Union County ballots. We’ll be focused, of course, on two countywide races: the contest between Jake Seavert and Mark Simmons for the open seat on the county Board of Commissioners and the race between Cody Bowen and Shane Rollins for sheriff. But we’ll be keeping our eyes on local elections as well, including the city charter amendment issues in La Grande and Elgin. And we’ll be posting updates about the statewide elections of importance to Union County, such as legislative races and ballot measures.

And all of our election coverage will be posted in front of our website paywalls, so that everyone can access it for free.

Now, I have no apologies to make anymore about asking people to pay for access to our content — it turns out that reporters and photographers (and editors) prefer to be paid for their work. But I’m willing to make exceptions for news of vital importance to all of our readers, and it seems to me that election news meets that test. (All of our wildfire coverage this summer was posted in front of our paywalls as well.)

If you’re interested in election news throughout Eastern Oregon, this is a good time to remember that, as a subscriber to the Observer, you have access to five other websites that cover the region: the Wallowa County Chieftain, the East Oregonian, the Hermiston Herald, the Baker City Herald and the Blue Mountain Eagle in John Day.

To access those other Eastern Oregon websites:

• Simply register your account on every site you wish to read with the same email address and password you currently use.

• Once you’ve registered, enter your username and password to enjoy the full range of content on that news site.

• You should not have to login again unless you log out, clear history or experience software updates.

• Save your password when prompted by your browser and if you are inadvertently logged out, your browser can fill in your login and password for you. (Only use this option on your personal digital devices.)

To view the latest e-Editions, be sure to register your account and sign in to www.eastoregonian.com.

Sign up for e-newsletters from each website by going to the “Email lists” link on your account dashboard for each site.

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact us at 800-781-3214.

Speaking of websites, here’s something else to remember: Even though the printed edition of the East Oregonian that you receive each week includes the best Observer stories, it doesn’t have nearly enough room in its pages for all of them. And our stories regularly appear on our website well before they’re printed in the East Oregonian. To get our full news report, you need to keep an eye on our website, lagrandeobserver.com. I try to post fresh content on the website every day. (I do occasionally take a day off, though.)

If you have comments, questions or story ideas for the Observer, send an email to editor@lagrandeobserver.com. It may take me a few days to get back to you, but I try to answer all the emails I receive.

If you have questions about the East Oregonian’s printed edition, or want to pass along a story idea, send an email to this address: editor@eastoregonian.com. 

Finally, of course, thank you to all of our subscribers. We simply would be unable to do this vital work without your support.

Mike McInally is the associate editor of the La Grande Observer and the editor of the Wallowa County Chieftain.

Photo caption: Jacque Fischer, left, and Tommi Williams bring in the ballot collection box at the Union County Clerk’s Office in La Grande, in the May 2023 election. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5, and the Observer’s staff will be working to cover local results — but the coverage will appear first on the Observer’s website.